Hoping not to get Nifonged, North Carolina’s district attorneys are asking to get rid of rules that protect the innocent. Protecting the innocent, after all, can undermine prosecutions and spoil political careers. The N.C. Conference of District Attorneys finds this intolerable.

From Arkansas, an interesting article featuring interviews from prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys taking thoughtful approaches to the death penalty. If only it was like this everywhere in the South.

In California, a bishop’s visits to death row bring transformation to both parties. To mark its 50-year opposition to capital punishment, the United Methodist Church’s Council of Bishops has asked each bishop to visit a death row inmate.

This Thursday, New Jersey may take a big step towards becoming the first state to legislatively abolish the death penalty in the modern era. Those now on death row would be re-sentenced to life without parole. The money saved from not bankrolling capital prosecutions could go to victims’ services.

In Tennessee, a federal judge has given Philip Workman five more days to live. The judge granted a temporary stay of execution to allow for arguments on whether the State’s new execution protocol is in keeping with the 8th Amendment.